Chapter Text
Conscription Day is always the deadliest. And Violet was gravely ill-prepared for it, carrying a rucksack full of books she could recite from memory.
“You are sending her to die!” Mira’s voice thundered through the wooden door enough for Violet to gasp. Waiting in front of General Sorrengail’s office as the commotion further continued, she entered before they would further embarrass her in front of the other girl who followed her in.
A mute girl who accompanied her hellish training with Major Gillstead. But unlike her mere 6 months, Thalia had her whole childhood under the best tutelage Navarre could offer and the excellent guidance of her father, General Augustine Melgren. The only reason Thalia Melgren trained with her for the last few months was a show of goodwill between two Generals of Navarre. Either that or he couldn’t bear to see his own ‘flawed’ child, as Thalia mentioned.
“I’m fine!” Violet claimed loudly, trying to convince herself more than the others in the room by the way she almost fell under the weight of her rucksack. She glanced at her quiet friend beside her, who stood as still as ever, sharing a nod of acknowledgment with the General, who returned the same.
“Oh, Violet”, Mira looked at her sister, worry brimming in her eyes. “Hi, Thalia”, she nodded at Thalia. Before anything further could be said, the General declared with finality, “It’s already done.” The banter continues this time, holding much delicate emotions, all while Thalia stares at a speck on the carpet floor. Family, delicate emotions, and all were long forgotten in the grueling training and lessons arranged by her father. They were weaknesses that destroy hierarchy and order, in General Melgren’s words. But she knew its warmth once. A long time ago, when hugs and caresses didn’t feel like a prelude to a stab in her back.
Voices raised in heated arguments, and Thalia thought to herself, when was the last time someone yelled at her? Her father? No, he was too busy to yell. It was easier to have her beaten or whipped for insolence. Major Gillstead had once, but she does not remember the reason. Not like it matters anymore.
Disrupting her thoughts, Mira turned and left. Probably under the orders of her mother.
“You scored in the top quarter for speed and agility during the entrance exam. You’ll do just fine. All Sorrengails do just fine.” General Sorrengail continued with as much indifference as she could muster, but a mother can’t hide her love. She turned to Thalia, “I won’t be able to acknowledge either of you for the next three years. Your father has trained you adequately, Thalia.”
Violet flinches slightly, having seen the prowess Thalia possesses; she knows that it was not without a cost.
“You won’t get any special treatment just because you’re the Generals’ daughters. If anything, they’ll come after you harder to make you prove yourself.” She arches an eyebrow.
“Well aware”, Violet answers for both.
General Sorrengail sighs and forces a smile. “Then I guess I’ll see you in the valley at Threshing, candidate. Though you’ll be a cadet by sunset, I suppose.”
“Good luck to both of you.”
“Thank you, General.”
That was Violet’s cue to leave, and Thalia followed.
“She’s batshit crazy.” And thus began Mira’s endless stream of advice, scolding, and a bit more scolding. Something about too many books, dying too soon, new gear for Violet, more predictions on dying, and weapons. Halfway through, Thalia vanished to get her own rucksack. Wearing her black long-sleeved t-shirt with thumbholes underneath and a leather corset above that held sheaths with daggers on either side of her ribs. Harnesses that extended to her thighs and calves. Seven daggers in total, she counted once. Then ran her fingers, unknotting her raven hair that barely reached her shoulders. The jitters she tried to hold back were getting to her. Seven daggers, she counted again, running her fingers over each one.
She was finally starting her journey. A little step towards the plans she laid out like a stairway ahead. It was just a small, insignificant step; she had to keep reminding herself to keep herself in check. Nevertheless, it was a step she had been waiting for a long time.
“I’m not going to die today.” Violet looked ready in tight leather gear and braided hair.
“There you are. I thought now that training was over, you were going to leave me behind.” Violet teased her while trying to hide her nervousness.
With the number of books you planned to take, I should have.
Mira’s eyes widened in realization as Thalia signed back to Violet. A weak sister and her mute friend. Mira added in without missing a beat, “Well, I can relax a bit. You have someone to jog some sense into you.”
Crossing the courtyard and heading towards the open gate, Mira mentions, “Find Dain. I’ve only been out of the quadrant for three years, but from what I hear, he’s doing well, and he’ll keep you safe. Don’t smile like that.”
Dain Aetos. In the past six months of knowing Violet, Thalia has heard this name mentioned more times than she would have liked. It was painfully obvious to anyone who heard it.
“He’ll be a second-year.” Mira shook her finger at Violet. “Don’t mess around with second-years. If you want to get laid, and you should”, she turns,” you too, Thalia, then screw around in your own year. Nothing is worse than cadets gossiping that you’ve slept your way to safety.”
“So, I’m free to take any of the first-years I want to bed,” Violet said with a little grin. “Just not the second- or third-years.”
“Exactly.” She winked back.
There were crowds of people all around them. Families bidding goodbye in tears. Candidates preparing for how their life was about to change in the next three years. And there in the crowd, someone looked at Thalia. Long, wavy raven hair and deep blue eyes like hers. Standing far away, looking at her with apology in her eyes. A blink and she was gone.
She was hallucinating again. Her mother couldn’t come to bid her goodbye. She already had. Seven years ago, Thalia had said her goodbyes to her mother as she bled to death in her arms. Honorary Marquis Lily Ashborne of Aretia had died before Fen Riorson and his allies were executed. Her loving mother, who stood with the rebellion, had been forced to come back to Callydr. To the prison her father built, where she died by his hands, and later told the world that she killed herself in shame. As if killing her alone was not enough, he had to tarnish her memory as well to keep suspicions from the king away.
Her mother had always wanted her away from the path of violence, and now she walked right towards it. Her mother took everything good in Thalia with her as she died. Along with her voice. What trouble could the poor, grief-stricken mute daughter cause General Melgren?
Mira continued guiding Violet until they noticed a boy with the relic. “A separatist’s kid? Yep. See that shimmering mark that starts on the top of his wrist? It’s a relic from the rebellion.”
Thalia’s hands unknowingly rub her wrist and arms.
“A dragon did that?” Violet whispered.
Codagh did. The massive black dragon, as vast as the sky itself, and the power of being its rider was what made her father a General.
Suddenly, Mira’s voice dropped, “I just remembered.” Her face was a few shades paler than before. “Stay the hell away from Xaden Riorson.”
Xaden.
It was as if the name alone had opened a box of memories she had long abandoned. There was a light breeze, music, laughter, and lots of chocolate cakes in those memories. What felt like a different lifetime entirely.
“He’s sworn allegiance to Navarre, but I don’t think that will stop him where you both are concerned. Once you get across the parapet—because you will make it across—find Dain. He’ll put you in his squad, and we’ll just hope it’s far from Riorson.” Mira’s alarmed voice brought her back. “Stay. Away. From. Him.”
For everything that’s at stake, staying away from Xaden was the only solution.
The name signing was completed with a lot of people chipping in a lot of unwanted opinions. And ten seconds after Mira left, Violet was already making friends among the people ahead of them. Along the climb of two hundred and fifty steps, echoes of chatter from Dylan and Rhiannon kept Violet distracted from her anxiety.
Thalia, on the other hand, had zoned out again. The Parapet, the Gauntlet, and finally the Threshing. Amid possible assassinations and keeping her secrets in check, there was a lot left to do.
It might start early with killing the blonde guy behind her.
Something about him was hitting all the warning signs in her head. It would be better to let Violet reach at least halfway through before she starts. As if the feeling of distaste was mutual, he too kept his distance from Thalia.
Before Thalia even noticed, Violet had already switched one of her boots with the girl she just met. And as she grabbed Violet’s arm to stop her.
“It’s fine. I have one. It’ll be alright.”
As if that itself was enough of a jinx, Violet felt the nervousness break her breathing. The weight of what they had to do finally hit her, along with the strong winds that tested their balance.
Recite the Navarre history.
Thalia tried to communicate, as she could not find anything else that could ground Violet at that moment. Violet nodded, trying to keep her nausea at bay. But one of the riders at the entrance was apparently a better distraction with his sharp face, built body, and onyx eyes. The realization hit Thalia a moment before the other rider spoke.
“Ready for the next one, Riorson?”
Pulling Thalia and Violet out of their trance, Rhiannon asks, “You ready for this, Sorrengail?”
That caught his attention, zoning in on Violet entirely.
“You’re General Sorrengail’s youngest.” His voice is deep and accusatory. It dawned on her that he, too, had changed to survive. He was not the boy she remembered any more than she was the girl who followed him around.
“You’re Fen Riorson’s son,” Violet countered.
It didn’t matter. That box that opened needed to be closed before it put her in more trouble than she could imagine. They had different roles to play, and reminiscing over a past that had nothing to do with who they were now put everything in danger.
“Are you going to kill me?” Violet asks, and moments later, all that false bravado falls with the boy before slipping and falling into the abyss.
Dylan. A name Violet was going to remember.
Thalia continues to stare at the ledge Dylan had gripped moments before the fall. She found the much-needed anchoring with that fall. She needed to survive. She needed to live through this as well.
“Why would I waste my energy killing you when the parapet will do it— “ Xaden stopped mid-sentence as his eyes found something.
He knew she would be here today. Knew he would meet her, even then, he found himself completely unprepared for it.
The same features of Lily Ashborne stripped of their gentle grace and left with sharp edges, and when her eyes met his, it wasn’t glimmering blues that he found.
It was indifferent and ruthless. Something his 15-year-old self had stared back at defiantly.
It was General Melgren’s eyes staring back at him.